Both players and game providers benefit from linking individuals or gaming facilities at widely different geographic locations in a common game. Players can thereby compete for much larger prizes, even huge, life-changing mega-prizes, which greatly enhances the excitement and attractiveness of the game. Similarly, the increased number of players participating in each game provides larger profits for the game provider.
Prior art teaches the use of a wide area network (WAN) to permit players located at a plurality of widely separated geographic sites to play in a common game. All such approaches describe one or more two-way telecommunication links between a central host computer and each remote site.
Some systems focus on linking gaming facilities such as casinos or bingo halls. In this instance, information flows between a central game host computer and a single remote terminal located at each gaming facility. Players enroll in a game by visiting a point of sale or buying chances from a runner, who reports sales to a clerk at the remote terminal.
Other approaches envision individual players linked directly to a central game host computer; for example, using a personal computer connected to the Internet.
All such systems face a common problem; namely, how to communicate the game event to remote players in a convincing and entertaining way. Gaming is a form of entertainment; hence the challenge of remote gaming is to come as close as possible to giving the remote player the experience of being present at the live event.
In many cases, simplicity and cost considerations dictate the use of narrow bandwidth telecommunication means such as voice grade phone lines to configure the wide area network. In this case, existing techniques permit only alphanumeric data such as the numbers being drawn, cards in play, and the like to be supplied to the remote player sites. With increased bandwidth, still pictures, and with a full T1 connection or satellite link to each remote site, compressed video of the actual game event can be provided. Unfortunately, increased bandwidth also means corresponding and often unacceptable increases in system cost and complexity.
In some cases, two separate communication paths are employed, such as a narrow bandwidth bi-directional path to handle player or gaming facility interactions with the central game host, and a one-way broadband link used to broadcast real-time video of game events to remote players. While the full motion video presentation is exactly what is needed to convey a convincing and entertaining presentation of the game, the combination of a broadband communication path and a narrow-band bi-directional path is, in many cases, impractical because of the cost and equipment complexity involved.
MegaBingo, (a registered trademark Multimedia Games, Inc.) a high-stakes bingo game played continuously in Indian bingo halls for more than a decade, provides an example of the successful use of a TV link for distributing live game events. A satellite uplink is used to broadcast the live game to all participating halls. In turn, all halls are also linked by phone to the central game host for purposes of confirming card sales, receiving and verifying player claims of matching a winning pattern and other activities requiring two-way communication. To receive the MegaBingo broadcast, each hall has purchased and installed a receive-only satellite downlink terminal. While this approach conveys all of the excitement and realism of the live game to players in dozens of remote sites, it has only proven economically feasible because the tribal halls are very large and are generally open for business every night of the week.
Unfortunately, neither the direct satellite link nor other broadband means of communication is economically feasible for the thousands of charity bingo halls, even less so for individuals because of the cost and equipment complexity involved. Yet anything less than a real-time video representation of the game fails to convey the excitement and reality needed to capture and hold the player's interest.
For background information relating to the general subject matter of this invention reference may be had to the following previously issued United States patents:
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